Multiple container package



Jam 1967 P. A. MARCHANT 3,295,7W

MULT IPLE GONTA INER PACKAGE Filed June 25, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.2A

FIG. 2

INVENTOR- PAUL A. MARCH-ANT ,5 so? ATTORNEY FIG. 5

Jan. 3, 1967 P. A. MARCHANT 3,295,710

MULT I PLE CONTAINER PACKAGE Filed June 25, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

PAUL A. MARCHANT ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice Patented Jan. 3,1967 3,295,710 MULTIPLE CONTAINER PACKAGE Paul A. Marchant, Kansas City,Mo., assignor to Rexall Drug and Chemical Company, Los Angeles, Calif.,a corporation of Delaware Filed June 25, 1963, Ser. No. 290,394 1 Claim.(Cl. 22e 23.s

The emphasis today is on multiple container packaging, that is, aunitary package which contains a plurality of containers of thecommodity being sold. It has been found that the consumer will increasehis purchases of a commodity if the commodity is packaged in a multiplecontainer package. Specific examples of such packaging is theconventional six-pack of beer and soda beverages. These commodities arepackaged in individual containers and a subsequent operation isperformed to unite a pinrality of the containers into a unitary package.My invention involves molding the containers in an integrally joinedrelationship so that a minimum of subsequent operations are necessary toform a multiple container package.

My invention is also directed to a package, and the method and apparatusfor making the package, for mer chandising throw-away containerscontaining a pre-measured quantity of a commodity. For example, it isdesirable to mechandise soap powder or liquid in individual containerswhich may be opened and placed in the users wash machine and whichcontain the exact pre-measured quantity of soap necessary for a singleload of laundry being washed. It is not necessary to reclose thecontainer but rather it is thrown away.

In the drawings I have shown the present preferred embodiment of myinvention in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the containers prior to assembly into apackage;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation view of the containers of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2a is a side elevation view of the containers of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged top plan view of a flexible connector betweenthe containers;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the containers positioned in a circularconfiguration prior to forming the package;

FIGURE 5 shows my preferred embodiment of my package with the containersformed in a circular configuration joined by a connector and handle;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the connector and handle;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective of a modified form of the connector andhandle;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation view of the modified connector and handleshown in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a view of the molding apparatus for forming the connectedcontainers; and,

FIGURE 10 is a cross section taken on 1tl1tl of FIG- URE 9.

Briefly the present invention is directed to a multiple containerpackage having a plurality of individual containers joined by flexibleconnectors, each container has walls enclosing a chamber to hold acommodity, and an opening into the container to permit dispensing thecommodity therefrom; the flexible connector is integrally molded at itsends to the adjacent containers to permit swinging movement of eachcontainer relative to adjacent containers. Preferably, portions of theside walls of the container include vertically disposed planesengageable with corresponding planes on adjacent containers when thecontainers are swung on the flexible connectors. The side planes on thecontainers permit a circular packaging of a plurality of the containersin rigid relationship. The flexible connectors are easily severable sothat the user can remove a single container from the package by severingthe connectors holding the container Within the package.

My invention is also directed to a unique method for molding the abovedescribed multiple container package and includes: providing a moldhaving a plurality of mold cavities in the shape of the individualcontainers, each cavity being adjacent to each other with additionalmold cavity portions spanning the area between the container cavitiesand providing areas for forming the flexible connectors between thecontainers; extruding a tubular thermoplastic parison into the mold;and, introducing a pressurized fluid into the parison within the moldcavities to expand the parison into engagement with the mold cavities toform a plurality of containers flexibly and severably connected byconnectors between the containers.

My invention is also directed to a unique apparatus for molding themultiple container package described above and includes a separable moldhaving a plurality of container shaped cavities, an elongated cavityextending from the edge of the mold to each of the container-shapedcavities, extrusion means operatively related to the mold to extrude ahollow thermoplastic parison having one dimension sufficiently large toencompass. all of the cavities in the mold, means to open and close themold on the plastic parison, and means to introduce pressurized fluidinto the plastic parison, when it is within the mold, to form theconnected containers.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the individual containers,generally designated It), have a hollow inner chamber 11 formed by sidewalls 12, a bottom wall 13 and a top wall 14. The top wall has anintegral neck portion 15 terminating at its upper end to form a topopening 16. Preferably the neck portion 15 has an outwardly extendingperipheral rim 17 having a flat lower face and a sloped outer peripheralface.

The open top 16 of the container may be closed in any conventionalmanner such as a snap on cap, a thin sheet of polyethylene heat sealedacross the top, or any of the well known procedures to close the top andmaintain the commodity within the container. Since the container is notreused, the closure for the top 16 may be very inexpensive anddestructible upon a single opening of the container.

Each container is connected to the adjacent container by a flexible andseverable connector 18 integrally joined at its vertically disposed endsto adjacent containers. Each container has a pair of diametricallyopposed projecting areas 19 formed integral with the side wall 12 of thecontainer and forming part thereof. Preferably the projecting portionhas triangular flat top and bottom walls and flat sides 20 and 21converging toward each other to form an apex at their juncture. Theprojecting portion 19 is shown in enlarged view in FIGURE 3 with theapex of the projecting portion integrally joined with the flexibleconnector 18. The connector 18 is a thin plastic strip, easily severableby twisting one container relative to the adjacent containers, butsufficiently yieldable and flexible to permit swinging a containertransversely relative to adjacent containers.

In FIGURE 4 I have shown by preferred embodiment in which six containersare positioned to form a circular package. I have found that when Iposition the containers in a circular configuration of the type shown inFIGURE 4, and the distance between the flexible connectors 18 onopposite sides of the containers are an equal distance, the angle A (theincluded angle between the points of tangential contact between thecontainers and the center point of the flexible connector 18) is equalwhere n=the numbers of containers.

Thus in my preferred embodiment the slope of the faces 20 or 21 on theprojecting portion 19 are equal to /2 angle A when measured with thecontainers in a continuous string as shown in FIGURE 1, that is, whenmeasured from the normal passing through the flexible connector 18 andto a plane passing through the axis of rotation of the containers 10.

The relationship expressed above is applicable for an assembly ofcontainers from three containers to an infinite number so long as theyare assembled in a tangentially abutting relationship to the adjacentcontainers and the distance between the pivot points on the containersare all equal.

In FIGURES 5 through 8 I have shown the preferred manner in which Imaintain the circular configuration of the containers in the ultimatepackage. However, I have not shown in FIGURE 5 the manner in which thetops of the containers are closed since any type of closure may be used.

Preferably I provide a rigid or flexible disc 25 having a plurality ofequally spaced openings 26 of a sufficient size to receive the neckportion 15 of the individual containers but slightly smaller than theprojecting rim 17 on the neck of the container. Thus with the containerspositioned in the configuration of FIGURE 4, the disc 25 is pusheddownwardly with the necks 15 positioned in the openings 26. The disc ispushed downwardly until the openings 26 slightly enlarge to snap overthe projecting rim 17.

I have also provided a pair of spaced finger holes 27 for use in pickingup the package by placing the thumb and index finger of the user in theadjacent holes as finger grip holes.

In FIGURE 7 I have shown a similar disc 28 which is used in a likemanner and has a central handle 29 for lifting the package. The disc 28is assembled to the containers in the same manner described hereinbeforewith respect to the disc 25.

Preferably the containers are fabricated from a thermoplastic materialsuch as polyethylene or polypropylene. Likewise, the discs 25 and 28 arefabricated from a similar material having a yieldability and flexibilitysuflicient to permit the openings 26 to snap over the outstanding ridges17 of each container neck. The discs may also be fabricated fromcardboard.

The consumer purchases a package as shown in FIG- URE 5 with thecontainers filled with the desired commodity such as soap powder or soapliquid and easily removes the closure from one of the openings 16 on thetop of the containers, and the user then removes one of the containersfrom the package by snapping the disc 25 up over the neck of the desiredcontainer (here again the opening 26 will expand to pass over theoutstanding ridge 17) and the container is pulled outwardly to sever theconnectors 18 between the desired container and the adjacent containers.The commodity is then used in the desired manner, and the containerthrown away.

In FIGURES 9 and 10 I have shown views of the apparatus for fabricatingthe package of the present invention. FIGURE 9 shows the inside face ofone mold half and FIGURE 10 shows the pinch-off portion between the twomold halves for forming the connectors 18. As shown in FIGURE 9 theapparatus includes means for supplying plasticized plastic to extrusionopenings 30 which extrude a tubular parison downwardly between thecentral core 31 and a ring die 32. This type of extrusion apparatus isof a well known type and it is known as a parison extruding machine.Immediately below the parison extruding machine is a separable mold, ofwhich I have shown an inside view in FIGURE 9. The mold consists of ametallic base material 33 having a central cylindrical channel 34connect-able to a blow tube 35 which supplies pressurized fluid,preferably air, to the channel 34. The channel 34 opens into a pluralityof cavities 36 of a shape for the desired containers and includes aportion 37 for forming the neck portion of the containers. Between thecontainer cavities 36 is provided a pinchoff portion 38 which forms theconnect-or 18. This type of pinch-oft portion is well known in the artand provides a connection between adjacent containers which is flexibleand easily severable from the containers. Suitable pinch-otf mold partsare provided around channel 34 and cavities 36 and 37 in the mannerwell-known in the art.

To form the package of the present invention: a parison, preferably oftubular or oval cross section, is extruded through the extrusionopenings 30 between two halves of a mold having identical reverseconfigurations as shown in FIGURE 9. The mold is then closed on theparison, which has a dimension suifciently great to extend completelyacross the channel 34 to the right hand extremity of the cavities 36.The mold simultaneously closes on the blow pipe 35 and air isautomatically introduced through the blow pipe to expand the plasticparison which is in the channel 34 and the cavities 36 and 37, thusforming the containers in a continuous line as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and2a with a connecting plastic tube formed in the channel 34. Theconnecting tube 34 is easily removed by a well-known cutting processwhich severs the tube from the top surface of the neck 15 formed in thecavity 37. The containers are then ready for filling, closing, andassembling into the package shown in FIGURE 5.

While I have shown a present preferred embodiment of my invention, itmay be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A one-piece multiple-container package having a plurality of individualcontainers joined by flexible connectors and positioned in a circularconfiguration, each container having walls defining a chamber to hold acommodity, an opening into said chamber to permit dis pensing saidcommodity from the chamber, a flexible connector integrally molded atits ends to join the sides of adjacent containers to permit swingingmovement of one container relative to the other, each of said containershaving an integral side wall portion which includes a verticallydisposed abutment area engageable with a corresponding abutment area onan adjacent container when said containers are positioned in saidcircular configuration, and said abutment areas on adjacent containersbeing disposed at an angle A relative to each other, wherein when n isthe number of identical containers in said package and is greater innumber than two containers.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,863,339 6/1932Humphrey 18-35 2,223,019 11/1940 Gammeter 18-35 2,358,126 9/1944 Burkley264- 2,884,155 4/1959 Hunson 22023.4 2,975,930 3/1961 Pennington 22023.42,996,329 8/ 1961 Glazer 206*65 3,008,191 11/1961 Park 264-98 FOREIGNPATENTS 649,541 1/ 1951 Great Britain.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

GE RGE LQWRANCE, Examiner.

